Animal trap



T.-w.GARR,s$ 2,186,86

ANIMAL TRAP Filed Feb. 9, 1939 i u- 1 12 i 40 Thur'mcmW Garris Qizg.

Patented Jan. 9, 1 940 UNITED STATE ANIMAL TRAP. Thurman,W. Garriss, watha, N. C. g Application February 9, 1939, Serial No. 255,512

' 4 Claims. (01. 4345 I invention relates to animal traps, and more. specifically to a trap embodying loopshaped jaws designed to engage parts of the body, of the animal to be trapped and to hold them without injury.

' Former traps have been unsatisfactory in that the animal was injured when the jaws of the trap closed upon it, as it was necessary to provide relatively strong springs for the jaws in order to close them upon the animal with suificient force to prevent escape. Other traps of the so-called sliding loop type were not satisfactory in that the animal had often moved out of reach of the sliding loops before they closed.

An object of this invention is to provide a trap in which the springs actuating the loops are only A further object of the invention is to'supply loops of a shape so as to be satisfactory for trap- .ping any small sized animal such as a rabbit,

. raccoon, etc.

Other objects and the nature and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of my trap in fully opened position;

- Fig. 2 is a plan view of my trap in set position;

Fig. 3 is an elevation of the trap in set position; I v

Fig. 4 is an elevation of my trap in sprung position, the jaws being in a position to engage a portion of the animal to be trapped; and

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary detail view of the ends of the jaws.

The frame l0 of the trap is of rectangular or other suitable shape, preferably made of heavy wire. A double loop jaw H is pivoted to a portion of the frame l0 and is provided with a spring l2 in order to hold the jaws in a normally extended position. At the opposite side of the frame I!) is a link member l3 pivoted to the frame and normally held in position by a spring M as shown in Fig. 1. To the opposite end of this link member I3 a loop jaw I5 is pivoted. A trigger member I6 is pivoted to a portion I! of the frame I and has a hook member l8 designed to engage and lie over the portion IQ of the loop jaws ll. At the opposite end of the trigger member 16 is a treadle 20 formed on the endof the member. A chain 2| secures the frame Hi to a tree, stake, or other suitable anchoring means. When the trap is set the sliding jaw l5 lies between the jaws II so as to coincide with the latter mentioned jaws and form a relatively large substantially circular opening. The treadle 20 is positionedtowards the middle of this opening. As the animal approaches the trap and steps within the loops of the jaws l I and i5 and then actuates the treadle 20 in a downward direction, the link member l3 pivots'on the portion H of the frame l0 and withdraws the hook member 18 from contact with the jaws ll, releasing jaws H and jaw 15. The spring l2 causes jaws II to pivot about their axis. At the same time'the jaw l5 moves up with jaws I l due to the fact that it lies between them in the set position. The spring [4 urges the link l3 outwardly which causes the jaw IE to have a sliding movement relative to the jaws l l and thus to contract the area within the loops of the jaws. This body. The portions 22 of the jaws are shaped into a smaller projecting loop as shown in the drawingto insure better gripping of a small portion of the animals body and render the trap suitable for a wider range of animals. It will be evident that this shape will more securely hold a small animal and yet not decrease the efiiciency of the trap in case of a large animal. The springs 12 and M which actuate the jaws l l' and I5 are only sufiiciently strong to quickly close the jawsabout the animal. ,When the jaws H and i5 have closed upon a portion of the animal, they are at rest at an angular position relative to the frame ID as shown in Fig. 3, so that the struggle of the animal to free itself will only result in the jaws tightening more firmly. Due to this feature, the animal may be trapped without injury.

It will be obvious to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made in this device without departing from the spirit of the invention and therefore the invention is not limited to what is shown in the drawing and described in the specification but only as indicated in the appended olaims.

What is claimed is:

1. An animal trap including in combination, a frame member, a pair of loop jaws pivoted to one side of saidframe member; a link member pivoted to the opposite side of said frame member, a single loop jaw pivoted to said link member so that said single jaw will lie between said pair of jaws in a set position, resilient means for urging said jaws into an outwardly extended position, and trigger means for holding said jaws in a set position.

2. An animal trap including in combination, a frame member, a pair of loop jaws pivoted to one side of said frame member a link member pivoted to the opposite side of said frame member,a single loop jaw pivoted to said link member so that said single jaw will lie between said pair of jaws in a set position, resilient means for urging said jaws into an outwardly extended position, and

trigger means for holding said jaws in a set position, wherein the loop portions of said jaws are substantially superposed.

3. An animal trap including in combination, a frame member, a pair of loop jaws pivoted to one side of said frame member; a link member pivoted to the opposite side of said frame member,

a single loop jaw pivoted to said link member so that said single jaw will lie between said pair of jaws in a set position, resilient means for urging said jaws into an outwardly extended position, and trigger means for holding said jaws in a set position, said single jaw being linked to said frame member in a manner to make said jaw capable of arcuate and sliding motion when actuated by said resilient means.

4. An animal trap including in combination, a frame member, a'pair of loop jaws pivoted to one side of said frame member; a link member pivoted to the opposite side of said frame member and to a single loop jaw so that said single jaw will be between said pairs of jaws in a set position, resilient means for urging said jaws into an outwardly extended position whereby a common area enclosed by said opposed jaws is contracted and whereby the eifort of the animal to escapeacts to further contract said area, and triggermeans for holding said jaws in a set position.

THURMAN W. GARRISS. 

